DECEMBER 2023
EROSION: ICELANDIC GLACIER MELT

Since 2000, the area of Iceland’s glaciers has decreased by 800 km2, and by more than 2,250 km2 since the end of the 19th century. The glaciers of Iceland are melting. The power of the glacier melt is as humbling as it is sublime. Pressure and friction – the ice flows scratch and scar the surface, eroding rock and sediment, carrying it kilometers from mountains to sea. Finally, the glacier calves into the ocean. It is the beauty of the glaciers destructive power and simultaneous reminder of the profound environmental consequences that both delights and horrifies.